What's new in the Return to the Workplace solution
This article provides resources where you can learn about the new features that have recently released.
New and updated features in April 2022 (v1.7)
Return to the Workplace portal
Day Pass
With this release, we've made a minor update where if a user disagrees to the required conditions for their health check, they're redirected to a new Day Pass Denied screen.
Note
Just like other content on the Return to the Workplace portal, the content on the Day Pass Denied screen is editable by your solution admin via the Facility Management app.
Vaccination Confirmation
With the latest update, users will get two ways of submitting their Vaccination Confirmation details:
- By uploading their documents: This is the existing way, where the document upload is now a required field, without which the user won't be able to submit their vaccination confirmation. A new Proof of vaccination field is updated behind the scenes when the user uploads a document together with their vaccination confirmation.
- By manual information submission: With this new feature enabled, users can now submit their vaccination information manually. They will be required to fill in the Date, Type, and Health care professional/clinic site details for every dosage that they've taken.
Facility Management app
With the latest release, we've simplified the Facility Management app, including revamp of the solution settings, a new preview functionality for uploaded vaccination documents, and some user interface changes.
Other enhancements
- Removal of external data sources from Location Readiness dashboard and Facility Safety Management dashboard
- Acknowledgement of company testing policy on the Return to the Workplace portal (with editing permissions for solution admin)
- A new notification flow for when a worker is unblocked from accessing a facility
- Removal of the "Add QR code" funcationality from the RTW Canvas App due to its linkage with an external API for QR code generation experience.
New and updated features in November 2021 (v1.6)
Return to the Workplace portal
Vaccination attestation (Preview)
When enabled, this feature invites workers to attest to their vaccination status. The vaccination attestation solution settings can be configured so that workers who have submitted a vaccination attestation and meet the required conditions your organization establishes may skip daily attestations (e.g., symptom screening attestations) to receive their daily pass. You can also configure the feature to require daily attestations even if a person has provided a vaccination attestation.
Test attestation (Preview)
When enabled, this feature invites workers to submit their test attestations. The test attestation solution settings can be configured so that workers who have submitted a test attestation and meet the required conditions your organization establishes may skip daily health attestations (e.g., symptom screening attestations) to receive their daily pass. You can also configure the feature to require daily health attestations even if a person has provided a test attestation.
Based on the health and safety plan assigned to the worker, the worker is notified of the due date for the next test attestation.
Note
The new features are only available in the Portal out-of-box. Customers who want the same features in the Employee App can work with Microsoft partners. Future investments will continue to focus on RTW Portal enhancements.
Deprecated unauthenticated guest pass generation
- The Unauthenticated guests feature has been disabled/deprecated in the portal app.
Facility Safety Management app
Solution settings
The solution settings section has been updated to group the features in the following groups: General, Global Day Pass settings, Global vaccination attestation settings (Preview), Employee app settings and RTW Portal settings
Under the RTW Portal settings, the test attestation functionalities (Preview) have been added. There is a toggle to turn on/off the feature, enable manual verification, enable test attestation for accommodated workers only, and create test attestations terms and conditions. See Configure the solution for more information on how to set up the solution settings of the Facility Safety Management app.
The solution settings including test and vaccination settings (Preview) will apply to the worker based on their facility group. If a worker doesn't have a default facility assigned or solution settings don't exist for the respective facility group - default solution settings will be applicable.
The feature to allow unauthenticated users to access the RTW Portal is being deprecated.
Important
The portal Enable day pass setting is introduced in this version. When upgrading from Return to the Workplace version 1.5 or earlier, ensure that this setting is set to Yes. This setting will keep the portal Create pass functionality enabled in the portal app.
Test attestation related forms
The side navigation will display three forms:
Test attestation setup: Test types (Preview) - Used to define the test types that will appear for the worker in the RTW Portal
Test attestation setup: Health and safety plans (Preview) - Used to define the periodic test plan to be assigned to the worker
Test attestations (Preview) - Contains test attestations of workers
Re-named forms
- Employees has been re-named to Workers
- Guest attestations has been re-named to Day passes (Portal)
- Employee attestations has been re-named to Day passes (App)
- Employee Bookings has been re-named to Bookings
- Employee Visits has been re-named to Visits
- Reopen Phase Transitions has been re-named to Phase transitions
Employee Return to the Workplace app
This release also includes a number of different improvements to the application usability/accessibility. The improvements include but not limited to:
- Improved and more reliable focus management on most screens.
- Revamped overall experience for screen reader users.
- Reduced inter-screen navigation that allows to improve the UX for multiple user journeys. For example, booking a space and looking up a facility status.
- Reworked focus indication for keyboard-only users.
- Refined look and feel with Windows high-contrast themes.
- Improved page markup semantics in order to make the UX for screen reader and voice input users better.
- Better utilization of the screen real estate on mobile devices to provide greater reachability for the interactive controls.
- Better support for increased text spacing when viewing the app.
- Better support for higher zoom levels.
- Tweaked error handling in application forms to ensure it's more consistent and proactive. Examples are guest registration and vaccination attestation submission screens.
- Color contrast is boosted for elements across the board.
- Enhanced back button navigation for guest registration flow that avoids losing progress in case you need to make changes on previous steps of the process.
- More reliable status announcements.
Location Readiness and Facility Management dashboards
- Removed the reference to an external AzureBlob data source used in the reports.
New and updated features in August 2021 (v1.5)
Vaccination attestation (Preview)
The vaccination attestation feature is introduced in this release. When enabled, this feature invites employees to attest to their vaccination status. The vaccination attestation solution settings can be configured so that employees who have submitted a vaccination attestation and meet the required conditions your organization establishes may skip daily attestations (e.g., symptom screening attestations) to receive their daily pass. You can also configure the feature to require daily attestations even if a person has provided a vaccination attestation.
Verifier role (Preview)
A new Return to the Workplace - Verifier role has been added to manage the vaccination attestation solution settings, configure vaccination types, as well as review vaccination attestation requests in the Facility Safety Management app. Given the level of access associated with the verifier role, you should ensure that any such access is appropriate and complies with applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to health privacy laws.
Field security profiles
The following field security profiles were created to manage access to the vaccination attestation solution settings (Preview) fields:
Return to the Workplace - Verifier access to vaccination related fields - read & edit access to the vaccination attestation solution settings fields. All verifier users should be added under this profile to allow them to enable and configure the vaccination attestation feature.
Return to the Workplace - Employee access to vaccination related fields - read only access to the vaccination attestation solution settings fields. If employees need to use the vaccination attestation feature in the employee app, the employee users should be added under this profile.
See Deploy the solution for more information on how to set up the field security profiles.
Facility Safety Management app
The solution settings now includes a switch to toggle vaccination attestation functionalities such as keeping daily attestation required for vaccinated employees, enabling manual reviews for vaccination attestation requests and creating the Vaccination health terms and conditions text. See Configure the solution for more information on how to set up the solution settings of the Facility Safety Management app.
A Vaccination attestation tab (Preview) is added in the employee form to track the employee's vaccination attestation status and submissions.
The vaccination attestation (Preview) subarea displays views of vaccination attestation submissions that are approved, pending, lapsed or declined. From here, verifers can review the attestation submissions. See Facility Safety Management app for more information on how to manage the employee vaccination attestations.
The vaccination types (Preview) subarea contains information regarding vaccination types used in the solution. Verifers can create and update vaccination types that will appear in the Employee Return to the Workplace app (employee app) when employees are submitting their vaccination attestation approval requests. See Configure the solution for more information on how to set up the vaccination types, as well as for information about how to omit questions about vaccination types.
Employee Return to the Workplace app
The vaccination attestation feature (Preview) in the Employee Return to the Workplace app is enabled when the Enable vaccination attestation configuration is set to Yes in the Facility Safety Management app solution settings. Once this feature is on, the Vaccination attestation buttons will display in the app's landing page. This allows employees to submit their vaccination attestation. This setting will also determine if the daily passes for employees with approved vaccination attestations will include a green check mark.
RTX Common Solution
A managed solution named RTX Common Solution is introduced in this version. This solution contains tables and flows from the old Return to the Workplace and new tables and flows to support periodic testing operations (for example, schedule appointments and monitor results). The old Return to the Workplace solution contains the apps and roles.
New and updated features in January 2021 (v1.4)
Facility Safety Management app
Solution settings now include a switch to toggle between 12-hour and 24-hour time format in the Employee Return to the Workplace app.
Workplace Care Management app
On the Exposures tab of an employee case, the employee attestation lookup now shows only positive (Yes) attestations to link to the case.
Access control and notifications
Notifications and access controls are now also available within the Power Apps portals.
New and updated features in December 2020 (v1.3)
Return to the Workplace portal
Facility managers can provide facility access to third parties. A third party can choose a facility, attest to being symptom-free and receive a day pass for facility entry. A facility manager can also share resources such as FAQs, guidelines, and restrictions with third parties.
With the introduction of portals, we added a new way for users approaching the solution. Below you will find a comparison how the portal relates to the mobile app.
| Name | Employee app (Mobile app) | Portal (Web app) |
|---|---|---|
| Persona | Employee | Third Party |
| Target Users | Employees, students | Vendors, parents, or guardians of students, “of-age” student |
| Security | Authentication Azure AD | Multiple types supported (including Azure AD B2C, Gmail, Facebook) |
| Booking level | Facilities, floors, areas, arrival times | Facilities |
| Attestation | Yes | Yes |
| Access controls | Yes | No |
| Notifications (for example, in-app, email, text) | Yes | No |
| Included in occupancy metrics | Yes | Yes |
| Included in occupancy capacity limits | Yes | No |
| Included in case management | Yes | By company policy |
| Manual contract tracing | Yes | Limited (manual data entry) |
Access control
Facility or case managers can now manage facility access for employees via access controls. They are the new way of blocking facility access for an employee that allows case managers to create them either via Power Automate or an API. Access controls tie in to notifications, so employee can find guidance in the Employee app.
Notifications
Employees can now have in app notifications when facility access has been enabled or disabled. Out of the box email notifications are also provided, but these can be extended via Power Automate or other solutions.
Dashboards with state and county level virus data
COVID-19 data and insights is now available at the state and county level for USA, including new metrics such as confirmed cases per 100K and Fatal cases per 1M population.
New and updated features in October 2020 (v1.2)
Guest bookings
To support guest visits to a facility, employees can now book passes for their guests. Passes can be shared to guests through email (Outlook), so that guests are aware of policies and details of the facility. More information: Employee app.
QR code
Employees and guest pass now contains QR code that enable integration with health and safety systems, such as temperature scanning and badge reader systems. Depending on your preferences, you can turn off this feature in the solution settings. More information: Employee app.
Manual contact tracing
Manual contact tracing can quickly identify case contacts through a suggested list, and manually add additional case contacts. The case contacts can be evaluated and new cases can be opened, if needed. More information: Workplace Care Management app.
Employee access management
Case managers can now manage facility access like blocking employees entering into the facility. When blocking the employee, you can provide a notification to the employee when the employee is trying to book a facility. Case managers can also set the date when facility access will be available again for the employee. More information: Workplace Care Management app
Prioritized case dashboard
A new dashboard for case managers has been introduced to help them prioritize their case workload. Case managers can view the list of high-risk cases and cases due for contact and investigation. Case managers can also visualize cases by duration they have been open and by their risk. More information: Workplace Care Management app.
View and assess case clusters
Health and safety leads can visualize case clusters and view associated metrics to assess the risk of an outbreak and take immediate actions. The core data for visualizations is sourced from the manual contact tracing feature. More information: Use the Workplace Care Management dashboard.
Contact type
Contacts are now differentiated by a new contact type field (Employee and Guest) that enables a facility manager to differentiate between an employee and non-employee. More information: Facility Safety Management app.
Enhanced occupancy dashboards
The occupancy dashboards have been updated to reflect the guest registrations. More information: Facility Safety Management app.
New and updated features in August 2020 (v1.1)
Employee bookings and arrivals
Employees can now book space in available buildings remotely through the app. They can choose from specific floors and areas that are available, choose arrival times to avoid high traffic hours, attest to being symptom free, and receive a personalized day pass that can be used for building entry. More information: Employee app.
New dashboard for health and safety leads
With this update, we are introducing a new Microsoft Power BI dashboard for health and safety leads that is authorized to view employee cases across the organization. The dashboard provides an overview of all cases with filters to view specific locations. There are also focused reports for viewing cases under investigation and cases being monitored to ensure health and safety and task force leadership have a comprehensive and consolidated view. More information: Use the Workplace Care Management dashboard.
Partition facility and set capacity limits
A new location management capability designed to enable companies to better manage facility occupancy and arrivals, ensuring effective social distancing. Facility managers can partition workspace into floors and areas based on adjusted designs and establish capacity limits for each. Area capacity can also be limited by phase. These limits establish how many passes can be issued daily to ensure adherence to safety constraints. More information: Facility Safety Management app.
New occupancy tab
The new occupancy tab enables a facility manager to monitor and manage occupancy by comparing bookings and visits against capacity. The facility manager can view trends by time and drill down to a floor and an area level to identify the high occupancy spaces. More information: Facility Management dashboard.
New daily arrivals tab
The new daily arrivals tab shows booking information to assist a facility manager in controlling the facility traffic, such as bookings by day of the week and by arrival time window. More information: Facility Management dashboard.
